Production of North American-spec Lotus Elise and Exige will end this August

Lotus will end the production of the North American-spec versions of the Elise and Exige this August. US consumers will no longer be able to get these rear-wheel drive vehicles, several company officials told Autoblog. This is because of federal regulations that require "smart" airbags on the sportscars. Another factor is the fact that Toyota�s production of the 2ZZ four-cylinder engine will also end.

It�s likely that Lotus will create a limited run of Final Editions for these models. Lotus executives revealed that production of the new 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine version will continue in the UK and other parts of Europe. This will persist until 2015, which is when the next Elise is slated to arrive.

Selling very light sportscars in the U.S. will soon be very difficult to accomplish due to its new regulations. In 2010, Lotus introduced the next generation Elise in concept form at the Paris Motor Show. The new Elise is offered as a coupe and roadster. It features floating taillights and an array of carbon fiber components. [via - 4wheelsnews]